For Mike, Mor, Kendra, Patricia, Chelsea and Uncle Tony,

who are the only ones who still read my blog :-) I'm doing very well-- it's nice to have some money. I've got a plane ticket back to the US for Christmas all taken care of, and so getting some much needed time with the family is no longer a worry either. I will leave Sydney for NZ, and then SF Dec 20th 2006, and return to NZ and then Sydney Jan 5th 2007. I'm extremely happy to be flying Air NZ instaed of United, even if it means I don't get mileage points... It's been hard finding the right flamenco level for me at a good time for me, but we'll see. My essays are all finished, so Raph and I went up to visit Nana on the long weekend. It was really nice, the weather and the beach were perfect, I beat Nana and Raph at Scrabble twice, and we had yummy chicken barbeque and chinese dinners. We visited with uncle tony, aunt meg and hana as well (you guys know this part), and had some really interesting conversations and Hana showed me the Pirateology book she got for her birthday-- VERY cool. AND work gave me the car for the weekend, so I did the 2-hour drive (one way) on the left side of the road all on my own:):) It would've been nice if I had some "foreigner driving" plates, but other than that, no hassles, and Raph stayed very calm:-) Nana gave us some paintings from India that we've put up in our dining room and go perfecly with all of Raph's dancing stuff, and some "ohm" jewlrey that grandpa made for yoga classes that I LOVE.

Now I have final exams coming up. Work is going well; I'm really happy there-- nothing too stressful going on at the moment, and I've talked my boss into leting me use a balance ball as a work chair. Mel (Raph's brother's girlfriend) and I have set a pampering day aside for this Saturday, and Ashfield is having a "Carnival of Cultures" on Sunday, with promises of free plants, African drumming and belly dancing lessons in the park. Raph is trying to get it all done, so I've let him go without shaving for a bit to try and be supportive;-) We saw "An Inconvenient Truth" with his step-dad Dennis last week (surprisingly good), and will go see "Jindabyne" next week, starring one of the aborignal girls from where I work!

Still trying to get logistics done, such as medicare, NSW Driver's License, getting the utilities in our name, etc...but I asked for a slower pace, so here it is. Kind of. :-)

Love,
Michela.